By John Solomon
How the government's punishing of the exposure of official wrongdoing can linger for years
Heavy fighting between rival army units shook Yemen's capital Friday, killing two soldiers in what could signal the start of a power struggle just days after autocratic President Ali Abdullah Saleh agreed to end his 33-year rule.
Let's face it, Yemen is a mess. Civil war has begun in Sanaa, and violence and unrest are ongoing outside the capital. It needs elections sooner rather than later. The United States and the international community should monitor the process for fairness but must not lead it. After 10 months of back-and-forth negotiations, it is clear that Yemen can only ever be really fixed by the hardy Yemeni people. Once they begin that vital process, starting with elections, they will need substantial outside assistance and investment.
Moammar Gadhafi was buried at dawn Tuesday in an unmarked grave in a modest Islamic ceremony, closing the book on his nearly 42-year rule of Libya and the eight-month civil war to oust him.
Embattled Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh charged Sunday that foreign diplomats have been misled by the country's opposition and are conveying false information about the situation in Yemen.
The main military rival of Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh says the returning leader appears set on driving the country into civil war and has called on the international community to rein him in.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh abruptly returned home to Yemen on Friday after more than three months of being treated in Saudi Arabia for wounds from an assassination attempt, in a move apparently aimed to ensure his grip as his loyalists and opponents wage urban warfare in the capital.
Tribesmen loyal to Yemen's embattled president clashed Tuesday with a group of soldiers whose commander has sided with the opposition, and the fighting in a suburb of the capital, Sanaa, left three tribesmen dead, according to tribal elders and military officials.
Tribesmen loyal to Yemen's embattled president on Tuesday clashed with a group of soldiers whose commander has sided with the opposition, and the fighting in a suburb of the capital Sanaa left three tribesmen dead, according to tribal elders and military officials.
Facing growing calls for his resignation, Yemen's longtime ruler told tens of thousands of supporters Friday that he's ready to step down but only if he can leave the country in "safe hands," while anti-government protesters massed for a rival rally.
The Pentagon is being urged to move its counterterrorism operations from Yemen across the Gulf of Aden to Djibouti should the government in Sanaa fall.
Rival tanks deployed in the streets of Yemen's capital Monday after three senior army commanders defected to a movement calling for the ouster of the U.S.-backed president, radically depleting his support among the country's most powerful institutions.
"In the current position or another position, I will continue to serve the nation," Gen. al-Ahmar told Al-Jazeera TV. "Whatever role the state chooses for me, I will serve."
Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar has issued a strongly worded statement calling Saleh a "sick, vengeful soul" and comparing him to the Roman emperor Nero, burning down his own city.
